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Organ Donation Education for EMS Professionals

EMS providers are often the first link in the donation process. From stabilizing patients to preserving organ viability, your role is critical in honoring a patient's final wishes. This education section features a CAPCE-accredited course designed specifically for EMS, a Donation Plan Pathway reference tool, as well as supplemental reading to help deepen your knowledge and confidence around organ and tissue donation.

🎓 Keeping Hope Alive – Your Role In Preserving the Opportunity for Organ and Tissue Donation

Course Description:

Often the first on scene, EMTs and paramedics can play a critical role in facilitating organ donation. Saving lives is the first step. But when all efforts to save a patient’s life have been exhausted, it’s rewarding to know that you may have played a part in saving and healing others with the gift of a second chance at life or hope. Your efforts may give your patient the opportunity to leave a legacy to others after all life-saving methods have been exhausted. This session will help you better understand your role, the steps you can take without changing protocols to preserve the donation opportunity in the field and better comprehend the facts surrounding organ and tissue donation. Learn from experienced EMTs working in the field of organ transplant about how you can make transplantation possible to save or enhance lives of others. 

Instructors:

  • Jeff Ethington, Donation Recovery Center Program Manager, UW-Organ & Tissue Donation

  • Courtney Bryden, Organ Donation Specialist Educator, Versiti Organ and Tissue Donation

  • Nick Waite, Director of External Affairs, Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin

  • Dr. Matthew McCauley, MD, Associate Medical Director, UW-Organ & Tissue Donation

  

  Course Details:

✅ CAPCE-Accredited – 1.0 CE hour

🧑‍⚕️ Audience: All levels of EMS personnel

⏱️ Duration: Approximately 60 minutes

  

Access the Course | Member

     

Access the Course | Non-Member

    

🌟 Agency Donation Readiness Recognition Program

Has your agency completed the Organ Donation Education for EMS course as a team? WEMSA’s Rescue to Recovery EMS Agency Recognition Program celebrates Wisconsin EMS agencies that are taking meaningful steps to educate their personnel, strengthen donation awareness, and support best practices in the field.

Agencies may apply for recognition based on the percentage of staff who have completed the Keeping Hope Alive – Your Role In Preserving the Opportunity for Organ and Tissue Donation course.

Recognition levels include:

  • Bronze: 50% staff completion
  • Silver: 70% staff completion
  • Gold: 90% staff completion
  • Platinum: 100% staff completion

Recognized agencies will receive a certificate noting their achievement level and may be highlighted through WEMSA promotional efforts in conjunction with our donation promotion partners.

Learn More & Apply for Recognition

↔️ Prehospital Donation Plan Pathway 

This downloadable graphic is designed as a quick-reference tool for EMS providers to better understand and navigate possible post-resuscitation donation outcomes. It outlines the potential donation pathways following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or near-arrest, helping EMS personnel determine when tissue and eye donation discussions may be applicable based on return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), patient condition, and determination of death.

While EMS personnel do not make death determinations, this flowchart can help provide clarity on the sequence of care and what types of donation may be considered in specific clinical scenarios. This is made to support your effort in understanding how your role intersects with organ, tissue, and eye donation possibilities.

  

Download the Prehospital Donation Plan Pathway

  

📖 Informational Articles

Continue your learning with these short reads and resources, curated to help you understand donation systems, dispel myths, and improve field response when donation may be possible.

EMS's Role in Organ and Tissue Donation

  • The Importance of Emergency Medicine in Organ Donation: Successful Donation Is More Likely When Potential Donors Are Referred From the Emergency Department
    This academic article explores how EMS professionals can significantly influence the success of organ and tissue donation, particularly in out-of-hospital settings. It highlights the need for education, standardized policies, and collaboration between EMS systems and organ procurement organizations.

  • The Untold Impact of EMS on Organ Donation: Transforming Tragedy into Hope
    Listen to a podcast from EMS Cast discussing the profound impact that one patient’s organ donation can have on society. Even when not every patient gets to go home, the ability to donate organs can positively affect up to 80 people, multiplying our impact and service to the community. Guest Chris Meeks, a critical care flight paramedic and organ recovery coordinator discusses the ethical considerations and the surprising impact EMS has on the potential for organ donation, even in cases that appear to be ‘lost causes’. 
  • Your Captain Speaking: What to Say About Organ Donation

    Organ donation is a subject many EMS providers encounter, but few are formally trained to talk about. This article explores how lack of information and cultural hesitancy can lead to confusion or discomfort and how EMS leadership can help change that. This piece offers straightforward, department-level strategies to normalize conversations about donation, correct common misconceptions, and ensure EMS professionals feel confident when their care intersects with end-of-life decision-making. 

    

EMS Reporting & Organ Donation

EMS providers may share patient care reports with Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) when evaluating potential organ, eye, or tissue donors. This information helps determine donor eligibility and supports timely screening.

This disclosure is specifically permitted under:

Click the accordion button below to read more. 

Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) may request EMS patient care reports when evaluating potential organ, eye, or tissue donors. Access to this information helps OPO teams assess medical suitability and better understand the circumstances surrounding a patient’s condition or death.

Wisconsin EMS providers may share patient care reports with OPOs for this purpose under both Wisconsin law and federal HIPAA regulations.

Relevant legal authority includes:

  • Wisconsin Statute §157.06 – Allows organ procurement organizations to evaluate potential donors and review relevant medical records.

  • HIPAA 45 CFR 164.512(h) – Permits covered entities, including hospitals and EMS providers, to disclose protected health information to organ procurement organizations for the purpose of facilitating organ, eye, or tissue donation.

Why EMS Reports Are Important

EMS documentation often contains critical information that helps OPOs determine donor eligibility, including:

  • Timeline of events prior to hospital arrival

  • Resuscitation efforts and medications administered

  • Mechanism of injury or cause of medical emergency

  • Patient history obtained during the call

Providing access to this information helps ensure potential donation opportunities are appropriately evaluated and supports the overall organ, eye, and tissue donation process.

Recommended Process for EMS Agencies

When an OPO requests an EMS report:

  1. Confirm the request is from an authorized representative of an organ procurement organization.

  2. Provide the patient care report through the agency’s normal records release process.

  3. Follow agency policies and documentation procedures related to HIPAA and medical record requests.

For questions regarding organ donation processes or OPO requests, EMS agencies are encouraged to coordinate with their regional organ procurement organization.


Debunking Organ Donation Myths
Understanding Brain Death and Cardiac Death

  • ​Brain Damage After Cardiac Arrest
    Verywell Health explores the effects of cardiac arrest on the brain, discussing the implications for brain death and the importance of timely medical intervention.

Explore other Rescue to Recovery Resources below:

 

Rescue to Recovery is a statewide initiative made possible through grant funding from Donate Life Wisconsin. Developed by the WEMSA Foundation in partnership with Versiti Organ and Tissue Donation, UW-Organ & Tissue Donation, Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin EMS Association.  This program is FREE and available to ANY Wisconsin EMS Department to equip EMS professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to support organ, tissue, and eye donation — both in the field and in their communities.

  

For any questions or feedback regarding the the Rescue to Recovery Program & Resources, please contact us at wemsa@wisconsinems.com.